Fifth Year Fling
by mrich22
Summary: Draco always saw Hermione as a know it all Gryffindor princess and Hermione always saw Draco as a loathsome follower of his father. But a Potions project changes their views of each other when they start to see past the labels. Will she help him change for the better or will his loyalty to his father win out? Takes place during fifth year with some canon left out. Dramione.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Hermione began to drag her cauldron to the back of the room after using the scourgify spell when Snape cleared his throat. Hermione turned around to see him shuffling papers when he said, "For end of first term, it being your 5th year, I have decided to give you a partner project. For most of you, I know this would be lucky being you can drag anything remotely resembling talent from your partner, so I decided to make this a little more difficult. Each of you will be paired with someone of equally similar talent as yourself." Groans filled the classroom as Ron, Hermione, and Harry exchanged glances of worry. Ron was never someone especially gifted in any of his classes, so Hermione knew that he would fail this project without her.

"I have posted the partner names as well as the instructions on the board outside of the room. Now let me remind you-" as he stared directly at Hermione and her two best friends, "any outside help from anyone but your partner will result in an automatic failure for both you and your partner. Be gone." Hermione's stomach dropped. "Well bloody fucking hell. I'm screwed." Ron mumbled into her ear as she gave him a weak smile and they began to exit the classroom. Double potions with the Slytherins as well as the Ravenclaws has never been a walk in the park, but now with this partner project Hermione had to worry. She knew none of her fellow Gryffindors were near her level of proficiency as far as Potions, so she had to begin compiling a list of her possible partners.

All of the students crammed against the wall outside of Snape's dungeon to find their partner and take an instruction sheet. Hermione hung to the back with Harry as Ron tried to push to the front. "It wont be that bad. I bet you are with Corner." Michael Corner was a bright Fifth year Ravenclaw prefect who Hermione often had to do corridor checks with on Tuesdays. She looked at Harry, "Yeah that wouldn't be too bad. He would be an easy partner."

"And I'll take whoever I can get. This is going to suck either way." Hermione knew that Harry was very bright and had his wits about him, but Potions still proved to be a struggle. Unsure if it was his hatred for Snape that clouded his ability or maybe a natural distaste for it, but she knew he would be paired with an adequate partner. Right at that moment Ron burst from the small group of students looking rather confused and worried. "I got Brown." he said with an exasperated tone, "Lavender. Brown. I thought I was better than that!" Harry and Hermione exchanged glances. "It won't be too bad, Ronald. Maybe you will pick a good topic and learn something new." Hermione gave his a weak smile as Harry nudged his arm and laughed.

"Hermione, only you would think learning something new would be a consolation prize for a trash partner." Ron said drolly. "Now that's not fair. You are obviously matched in skill. Maybe if you did your homework sooner than the twenty minutes before class started you wouldn't have been put in the bottom third of the class!" Ron sent her an angry glare as many of the students began to walk down the corridor with their new found partners. "Did you check for us? Who is my partner?"

"Uh.. sorry mate, I got so disappointed that I forgot to check for your names." Harry gave an exasperated sigh and began to walk through the last few students milling around outside the Potions dungeon while Hermione followed. Malfoy, Nott, and Zabini were pushing everyone out of the way as they walked away from the board. "Well, Granger, promise to not to give me any of your mudblood germs while we work together." Malfoy stared at Hermione. She let out an annoyed laugh. "Ha. Yes, very funny." She pushed past him and saw _Granger, Hermione- Malfoy, Draco_. Her heart sank into the floor. This could not be possible. She knew that this must have been a joke. "No. no. no." she muttered to herself, trying to understand this situation. Harry beside her smiled dumbly as he read his name, _Harry Potter- Cho Chang_. They both turned around as Harry had already forgotten what Malfoy said and walked over to Cho leaving her to fend for herself with the blonde menace who was glaring at her from across the corridor. _If this is what has to happen. I can do this. He's smart. It will be a quick project and we can go back to despising the sight of one another once we are done._ Hermione strolled over to him trying to remain calm and not let the mudblood comment get to her. Not just yet. She stopped directly in front of him.

"I don't know what you think this is going to be, but we will get our project done quickly and then go back to our usual routine of dirty looks and name calling. You fine with that?" he looked back at her with his crystal blue eyes. "Granger, I am all for getting this project done quickly, but I don't know if I will be able to go five minutes without calling you a name with as much talking as you do."

 _This is going to be my own personal hell._ "Malfoy, can you even think of a better insult? Let's first see how much of this we can do alone and then we can meet. Tomorrow after lunch, I have a free period so I'm usually in the library. Can you meet me then?"

"Love to, Granger." He sauntered away with that same "devil may care" grin on his face that infuriated her to no end. This same grin that charmed every girl wearing green and blue in this castle. _This will be the death of me._

Hermione finally walked up the last stairs to the portrait hole for the common room after Charms. " Sectin Sorvelli." she intoned as the portrait pushed open and she stumbled through with her giant bag that was beginning to hurt her back. The second she walked in, she beelined for the couch in front of the fire and let her bag drop to the floor. The sound ricocheted off the walls and everyone looked her way. Ginny Weasley stood up from a table in the back that she was sharing with Angelina Johnson and walked over. "Hey, honey. Rough day." as Hermione stooped into the couch's curves and molded her body to it. "Malfoy."

Ginny gave a pained face and took a seat next to her, "Harry told me. I would rather eat hot coals." This made Hermione give a slight smile. "Honestly, you must have really messed up in a past life to get this sort of punishment. Or maybe you shouldn't have been so smart and then you could have been matched with someone like Lavender." She gave a quick look to a table in the back. "Or worse... Ron." Hermione gave a full laugh and looked to the back of the room over the edge of the couch. Ron and Lavender sat at a table together talking quietly about what seemed to be their project. Books, charts, and loose papers littered the table. Both looked less than pleased and a little bit confused. "I feel bad for them since you can't help at all. They are for sure going to fail." Hermione turned back around and stared at the flames changing the subject quickly. "We decided that we are going to do as much of this project alone as we can and only meet when necessary. Malfoy that is. Malfoy and I. Partners. Good God, why does Snape hate me?"

"Uh, I'd hate to burst your bubble but have you read the instructions?" A cold feeling spread through Hermione's stomach. She grabbed her bag and dumped it all over the floor searching for the instructions that she pulled off the board.

 _All research and potion making must be done in the presence of your partner. Time stamped wand signatures will be expected throughout each stage of the project's completion._

Hermione let out a sigh. "Well this is going to be wonderful." Ginny gave a dry laugh. "You'll be okay. You can do anything for four weeks. And I bet you two will get it done faster anyway." Her optimism was beginning to grind on Hermione's nerves. "I'm going to bed. I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast." Ginny gave her a smile and as she was climbing the stairs she heard, "You got this girl!" screamed from the common room in a loud fake male voice. Hermione choked on a laugh. She definitely loved her only female best friend.


	2. Chapter 2

**Keep reviewing. Plus I have no idea where this is going. LEAD ME!**

Chapter 2

Harry, Ron, Seamus, and Dean were clustered around the Great Hall Gryffindor table as Ginny and Hermione walked in for breakfast the next morning. Seamus caught Hermione's eye and scooted over. He then slapped Dean on the other side of the table to do the same. Both girls sat down as the boys started in. "Hermione, I could really use your help looking over my astronomy charts. I know I ask you this all the time but I could really use the help." Both boys simultaneously pouted their lips and looked at her with puppy dog eyes. Hermione wondered if they used a charm for that look. Hermione rolled her eyes and look at the black pudding, eggs, and toast on the table, "I would love to help. Tonight in the common room, how about?"

"That sounds perfect." A relieved smile spread across Seamus' face when Dean looked at her, "Uh... can you look at my chart too since you'll already be in the zone looking at his? You know I am a complete prat when it comes to astrology." Hermione was spreading peach jam on her toast, "Uh yeah, that's fine." Both boys looked relieved now. "Can't you do it by yourself? Good God, you'd think you didn't have any brains between the two of you," Ginny huffed. Knowing full well that Hermione would never tell someone no when it came to helping them, especially a Gryffindor, she felt it was her duty to stand up for her friend. Ginny and Harry always talked about how she was being walked on. Dean and Seamus looked down at their plates, too afraid to respond when that look was on Ginny's face. Harry and Ron did their best to ignore this controversy.

"So Harry did you see who just walked in?" Ron wiggled his eyebrows and then looked to the Ravenclaw table. Cho Chang was about to sit down when she caught Harry looking and waved. _Meeting later?_ she mouthed with her thumb in the air and a questioning look in her eye. Harry smiled back and nodded his head.

Hermione stifled a laugh and then looked at Ginny. Her friend's face fell. She sat their quietly eating her oatmeal quickly then looked at Hermione and took off. _Harry must be a moron if he can't see that_ , Hermione thought. Harry now out of his Cho trance looked at Hermione, "So how is it going with the partner work?" with a concerned look on his face. "Well, we haven't met up yet to talk about it, but I will tell you after. Today after lunch. I'm dreading it." Ron leaned over, "Let us know if we need to kick his ass. I would enjoy it." Hermione laughed and continued to eat her toast.

The rest of the morning went by in a blur through Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Before she knew it she was grabbing a sandwich in the Great Hall and dragging her giant bag into the library. She found her usual spot, secluded in the back near the restricted section. Most people were only back here to find older volumes, so it went rather unused by most students other than the select few sixth and seventh year students. Also, most of the giggly girls sat near the front so every boy in the room kept their eyes trained on them even though Madame Pince would eventually shoo them out after she would realize they were there more for husband hunting over school work.

Hermione preferred the quiet. As she began to read a Potions history book, she heard someone walking towards her. Malfoy turned the corner and plopped his bag down on the table on top of all of her papers. "Jesus, Granger, already made a mess." Hermione shot daggers through her eyes as she started to pull her papers from under his bag. He sat down adjacent to her and began pulling books from his bag along with the instruction sheet. "So looks like neither of us get what we want." Malfoy mentioned motioning to the instruction sheet laying on the table.

"I'm aware of our situation. Time stamping. But that does not mean we need to talk or even look at each other more than necessary."

"I prefer it that way. You aren't much to look at anyway with all that bushy hair flying about." Hermione cringed. She had been used to Malfoy's insults for years, but it never got easier. She was a human with feelings after all and she could only take his poking and prodding so often throughout the week. Now she had to look forward to it each day they worked together. "Malfoy, don't get too high on your horse. If I put a piece of parchment behind your body, you'd blend right in." Malfoy eyes flashed with anger and then a smirk took over his face.

"Now, how often do you think of me naked, Granger?" Hermione's face turned bright red as she realized what she said. "You know full well that is not what I meant." Her eyes shot to his as he continued to give her a smirk as he relaxed into his chair. "I'm used to it." She huffed out a breath and continued, "So I was looking over the instructions and I thought we could do Amortenia. It is a doable potion with a long history. Plenty of research out there to find as well as a good time limit on brewing the potion.I know that it is a little basic, but if it gets us the grade then what is the difference?"

She looked at him expectantly but she noticed his confused look, "Wait. So you are telling me you want to do a simple potion for a partner project where we are the most qualified students in the class to take on the most difficult. What is wrong, Granger? You sick? Because that is truly the only explanation for why you would not want to upstage every student in our class and to be honest, I was looking forward to it." He shot her a smile that reached his eyes and shot right through her. Her breath caught in her throat.

"I've been doing my own research and I think we should do the Draught of the Living Dead. It is a sixth year potion and I feel like showing off." With this he gave her a wry wink and walked off with his books in tow. Hermione looked after him as he turned the corner. Annoyed by his presence and his influence on her grade, she slumped into her chair. They'd spent about 10 seconds together and it took everything out of her to not scream at him.

Draco didn't know what it was but he enjoyed ruffling Granger's feathers any time he saw her. Now that they had this project together, who knew how often he would be able to do it. A sly smile overtook his face as he wanted towards the Charms corridor. It's the only time that she doesn't have anything to say, and he preferred that shocked silence.

Draco walked down the corridor towards his next lesson and ran into Blaise and Theo. Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott have been around since as far back as he could remember. Their parents were in the same social circle so they were allowed to play together. Draco wouldn't necessarily call them friends because Malfoys didn't have friends but definitely allies. Theo looked at him as they continued walking, "So how's your mudblood partner?"

"As you would expect. Insufferable." Blaise laughed. "I feel bad for you. Yeah, I got stuck with a ditzy Ravenclaw, but I'm assuming we'll be doing a little more than making potions together by the end of this." Blaise gave a wry smile.

"You'll go for anything that walks. Don't you have standards? No one under your own station."

"I actually prefer it if they are under my station." Blaise began to wiggle his eyebrows and Draco smiled slightly. Stuffing his hands in his pockets he walked into his next class, Charms. Granger had already sat down with her posse, Weasel and Potter. Both boys flanked her like they couldn't give her up. Draco rolled his eyes while remembering the conversation he overheard at breakfast. _They all just take advantage of her mind. What a waste._

The minute Professor Flitwick began questioning about their next topic, Granger's hand shot into the air like a rocket and perpetually stayed there for the rest of the class period. Draco was so annoyed with her by the end that he knew he had to say something. She was always trying to show off how smart she was when he, just as smart if not smarter, hung back and just got the good marks. She always wanted people to know how smart she was. As he said before, insufferable.

When class came to a close he walked out of the room and waited for her by the door. The second she walked by talking to Harry about the assignment, he started in on her.

Following behind her, "Granger, don't you ever get tired of trying to be the know it all in the room?" She looked back at him but continued walking and did her best to ignore him. "Truly. Don't you see how insufferable you are to be around? Obviously not by Weasel and Potter, here because I'm assuming you just do their homework for them to keep them around." A hurt look crossed Hermione's face and he knew he hit a nerve as she abruptly turned around and Draco ran into her. "Don't you see Malfoy? You haven't got any friends. I'm sure mum and daddy didn't teach you how when he was in and out of Azkaban when you were a kid." Malfoy's eyes flashed and his hand clenched around his wand that gave off an angry heat. Sneering at her he leaned in, while looking her up and down, "At least, I'm not a filthy little mudblood like yourself. Trying so hard to prove myself. You're pathetic." That's when Draco could feel a spell hit him right in the side of the head and it blew him to the side. Landing hard on his back and arm, he scrambled to his feet. Harry and Ron stood their shielding their friend from his gaze. "Piss off, Malfoy!" Weasley yelled. As he grabbed his wand and began to think of how to blow Weasley away, Professor Flitwick stormed into the corridor and looked in between the two. "Malfoy, Weasley! Enough. 10 points from Slytherin and Gryffindor."

"But Professor, Malfoy started it. He called Hermione a ..." Harry trailed off unable to say the word and his best friend's name in the same sentence. Flitwick gave Hermione a sad look and continued, "I'm sorry boys, still no spells to be directed at other students. Detention for you both." Malfoy gave her a withering gaze and strolled off down the connecting corridor. Professor Flitwick gave her another sad smile and walked back into his classroom as students were beginning to walk in for his next class. Hermione grabbed Ron's hand and squeezed it as she smiled at him. He smiled back and they let go. _This was going to be a long project._

The next two days went by quickly since Hermione realized that she had not seen Malfoy once. But good luck never lasts as long as someone would want, she was moving through the library towards her back table when she saw him. Sitting at her table. With his feet on it. She groaned. Slamming down her bag she glared at him. "Malfoy, what are you doing? You know this is my table and I'd rather not have you be here."

Draco gave her a bored look, "Well I was here first, Granger, and it looks like you can either find a new table or sit down." He went back to reading his book. She huffed a little more looking around noticing that all the tables were being taken by second and third years. Colin Creevey was scanning the room at the same time and caught her eye and waved aggressively. She plastered a fake smile on her face and waved back. SHe then realized her only option and sat down reluctantly.

Without looking up from his book, he pulled his feet off the table with a slight smirk. She pulled out her books and began to work. Being that he was there she decided to start working on the research for their project. Every few minutes she would push his work and point to where he had to sign. This continued on for two hours in complete silence. By this time, Malfoy glanced at her more and more regularly. He had never known a girl to sit so quietly before and actually get work done. She refused to look or speak to him further, which was understandable based on what he had last said to her days prior. While he was glancing at her the last time, she picked up her stuff and strolled off.

Malfoy just watched after her and then pushed his chair back and followed her. After exiting the library, he caught up to her and grabbed her bag. She turned around and pushed him back. "What do you think you are doing, Malfoy?"

"I was just thinking that for this project to go smoothly we should at least be civil to each other."

"That is enlightening but I'm pretty sure that is what we were just doing."

"Yes, Granger, but it is also difficult to sit silently with your partner who refuses to work with you."

"That seems like a personal problem because I got plenty of my work done. If you have a problem, then maybe you should look at what you are doing." With that she shoved past him and walked towards the Great Hall. Draco knew that no matter what, he would need her to work on this project and being on speaking terms would only help the situation. With that he decided he would do his best to keep his insults in his head, because aggravating his partner to the point of not finishing their project would only disappoint his father more.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next day, Draco walked into the library and walked towards the restricted section. He wasn't looking for anything specific until he realized he was. She was camped out at her usual table. Walking to the back to join her he noticed that when she put her face like that the sun glinted off of her hair. It looked almost pretty. Almost. "Afternoon, Granger." She looked up at him startled as she dropped her quill and he sat down. He began to work and did the same to her that she did the day before. Each time he needed her signature he would grab her parchment and point. This went on back and forth for quite some time and he began to notice her glancing at him.

"What are you looking at Granger? I promise I am doing this correctly. It is just research." He looked up at her, "I just wanted to be sure you didn't need any help." He shot her a look and searched her face but realized the question was genuine and he softened. "No, I'm fine," and just because he was a Malfoy and they were gentlemen, "Do you need anything?" She shook her head no and dipped her head back down to continue her work.

The next day, Draco walked into the Great Hall and began to search for his target. Granger. She was sitting in her usual spot wedged in between the other Gryffindorks. He walked to his table and say next to Pansy Parkinson. She immediately threw her arms around him and began kissing him on the face. Pansy was never known for being a quiet girl, so she drew a lot of attention. Granger looked up from her breakfast and locked eyes with him after the kissing began to subside. Her face went hot. _Uh oh, Granger, if i wasn't mistaken I'd say you were jealous,_ Malfoy thought looking back at her with a smirk on his face. As much as he was annoyed by Pansy's presence and only put up with it on the behest of his parents, if it got Granger's attention it could be worth it.

Hermione looked back at her food and continued eating as the boys around her droned on about Quidditch and the Chudley Canons line up for this season. Why had she gotten so red faced? She knew Malfoy would never let her live that down. "Hey, 'Mione, you plan on coming to Hogsmeade this weekend?" Ginny asked.

"I'll go but I can't stay for too long because I have some work to do."

"Now that is a surprise," Harry laughed.

"I prefer to stay on top of my work, rather than wait till the last minute." She said defensively and Harry laughed again. Wrapped his arm around her shoulder and said, "You know we are just joking with you. Just want you to come hang out." He squeezed her shoulder and pulled his arm back.

Hermione knew she needed some time out of the castle because she had started to think about Malfoy even when he wasn't sitting across from her. She thought it might be cabin fever with all of the snow keeping them indoors. It had been a nasty winter, one that you couldn't enjoy a good snowball fight or Hagrid's sleigh rides.

The week continued as they all looked forward to their Hogsmeade visit and Hermione only had to suffer through a work session with Malfoy three times that week. Sometimes she noticed that he would just come and read a book at the same table as her. It was odd because no harsh insults or dirty looks crossed between them. They truly just ignored each other while staying in close proximity. It seemed as if they have decided to both be nice for their time together even when it was voluntary. Hermione couldn't quite wrap her head around it, but she did enjoy the company. He never pestered her for help with homework or teased the girls across the room. It almost seemed like he enjoyed her company over his usual posse of giggling females and macho boys with their new found muscles.

The Friday before the Hogsmeade visit, Hermione was sitting in the library while Draco was sitting with her. She knew Harry and Ron were working with their partners in different parts of the castle, so she didn't have to worry about the usual uneasy glances from the boys when they saw her sitting with Malfoy. Draco looked up from his work and mentioned offhandedly, "Granger, you going to Hogsmeade tomorrow?"

Hermione was surprised. Often they would go hours without speaking and she had grown to expect that, but now she actually had to talk and usually when talking happened so did angry words and even angrier hexes.

"Uh, y-yeah I am going. Why? Do you want to meet tomorrow to work?"

Draco gave her an easy smile. "No, I was just wondering if I would see you." With that he walked off. Hermione just stared at his retreating back as he walked away. _What the hell was that about?_ He had been occupying so much of her thoughts lately that she knew he would definitely take up more for this exchange. What could he have possibly meant? Did he want to see her? Or was he just being nice? Well Draco was never nice and Hermione knew that.

Draco strutted back to the Slytherin Dungeons after sitting with Granger on his Friday night. Why he did this every time he passed the library he didn't want to dwell on for too long. Instead he chose to think that he knew he had her mind going about his question. Why did he ask, honestly? Draco just reached the Slytherin Dungeon when the portrait hole flew open with Pansy standing there, staggering on her feet while pulling on Blaise's shirt front. He also just as tanked as she was. When her mind finally registered who she was looking at she threw her arms up and with a lady-like giggle fell into Draco.

He was never a big fan of her when she had been drinking; her clinginess grew tenfold and it didn't matter who to. He'd obviously just interrupted something between her and Blaise. His best friend gave him an annoyed look and quickly recovered with a grin that took up his whole face. "Draco, where ya been man? We've been partying since after last class and I thought you were coming right back?"

"I was in the library, doing some last minute work, but I will start trying to catch up with you two." Blaise gave his a scrutinizing look. Well, as much as a scrutinizing look a drunk teen can give someone, "You've been spending an awful lot of time in the library with Granger if I do say so myself. Seems to me she might be your next target?" Wiggling his eyebrows, Blaise laced an arm around Pansy's waist and drew her into him. Draco gave a patronizing laugh, "Now that is the craziest thing you have ever said, Zabini. You must be hammered."

Walking into the common room, fifth, sixth, and seventh year Slytherins littered the room with different bottles and cups in their hands. Draco saw a bottle of firewhisky in the hands of a puny sixth year near the fireplace and _accio'd_ it to himself. The boy looked angry until he saw who stole the bottle from him. His face went blank and gave Draco a knowing nod. Draco nodded back.

"For real, mate. I get it. Granger is cute when you squint your eyes and tilt you head to the left slightly. Just make sure you keep the lights off." Zabini laughed but Pansy became stark white. "Draco, set our good friend here straight. You only have eyes for good pureblood stock. I couldn't even think of a mudblood that way knowing what they truly are. It's disgusting."

Draco gave a slight nod as he took a shot out of the bottle passing it to Blaise. "I would never sink that low. The insufferable little mudblood know-it-all." But even as the words left his mouth he realized that he really didn't quite believe that about her anymore. Yes, she was smart but a know-it-all just didn't fit.

Saturday finally came and as Hermione rolled over in her dorm bed, a smile spread across her face. Snow was falling outside so it only made it a more beautiful walk to Hogsmeade with her friends since the icy chill had left the air. She jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. Her hair looked like a giant rat's nest. She grabbed Sleak Eazy from the cabinet and rationalized that since she was leaving the castle it was the perfect time to tame her hair. She began applying it until her hair looked smooth and curly.

She went through the rest of her morning routine and went down to the common room. Harry, Ron, Ginny, Seamus, Dean, Lavender, and Padma were all standing around bundled up ready to go. "Jeez, Hermione, seriously you are just now up?" Dean yelled at her as she walked down the stairs. "Late night working on the project." Hermione said as she grabbed the coffee and toast Padma offered her.

She took a sip, "How is that going? Spending all that time with Malfoy must be awful." Dean laughed.

"Truly not too bad. We have an arrangement and he knows not to mess it up." The group nodded; impressed with Hermione's ability to tolerate Draco. After she slipped on her coat, they began walking through the castle to the front doors. The mindless chatter about their week and all they wanted to buy in Hogsmeade when they arrived was exactly what Hermione needed to defrazzle her nerves, until she saw Malfoy, Zabini, and Nott heading to the large wooden door in front of them. The boys were talking quietly until Lavender let out a loud laugh from something Ron had said and linked her arm around his. The boys looked behind them and rolled their eyes, Draco instead locked eyes with Hermione. A shadow of a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth then he turned away.

For the rest of the walk, Zabini and Nott would turn around and respond to whatever was said loud enough for them to hear. Ron and Harry would then yell back insults to the group of Slytherins. But throughout the whole walk, Malfoy didn't look back or harass them once. Hermione was surprised that he could hold himself back like that.

Once getting to Hogsmeade, everyone went to different shops and chose to meet up at the Three Broomsticks two hours later.

Hermione was glad to be walking arm in arm with Ginny with Harry and Ron trailing them, while Lavender and Padma walked the opposite way to meet up with Pavarti at Gladrags Wizardwear. The snow was still falling and Hogsmeade looked like any quaint little town in England. It tugged at Hermione's heartstrings and she knew her parents would love this place. She always missed them after four months away.

"You mind if we go into Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, Gin? I need a new quill."

"Of course, I need a new pack of parchment anyway." Ginny replied. Ron and Harry let out matching sighs as they walked into the quill shop greeted by an unamused glare from Hermione. "Come on, you have to know that we will be in here for hours if we don't complain a little bit," Ron grumbled. "Oh stop it you two, how about we meet you at Honeydukes after we are done here?" Harry looked up and gave Hermione a thankful smile as he bumped Ron with his shoulder and made a beeline for the door. Ginny was seemingly looking at new journals, but as Harry and Ron left she watched the boys go from the corner of her eye.

Once the bells of the door stopped, Ginny quickly turned around and stopped Hermione. "Okay so spill it. There has to be something worth talking about with Malfoy. You want me to believe that you two just all of sudden can tolerate each other? No. I don't buy it."

Hermione's face began to feel hot as Ginny held eyes with her. Hermione was the first to look away and busy herself with looking at the quills lining the wall. As she walked along casting a revealing spell on each quill to see a list of the different selling points for each quill she began, "I don't know what you want me to tell you. We sit together in the library and rarely talk. Sometimes he just sits and reads a book for awhile while I study and then leaves. Most of our research is done, but he shows up anyway."

Hermione began to bite her lip, which is a nervous habit her mother always tried to break. Ginny gave her a knowing smile, "So he just comes to spend time with you and leaves? How romantic, I knew Malfoy had it in him." Hermione laughed incredulously, "Oh I doubt that. I'm sure he just likes the quiet and he knows no one will bother him in the restricted section. That's why I sit back there."

"You've gotta admit, Malfoy sometimes resembles a blonde god. I wouldn't blame you for thinking he is cute," Ginny said knowingly. Hermione continued to check quills while Ginny stalked behind her, "Cute is not the word I would use for him. More likely petty or arrogant. But definitely not cute."

"Yeah you're right, more sexy than cute." Ginny gave a dry laugh and walked past her towards the parchment section. Hermione had to smile to herself, of course she could see that Malfoy was good looking she wasn't blind and she knew he had a constant gaggle of girls draped around him wherever he went, but there was so much more about him that she didn't understand yet that threw her off completely.

With bags stuffed into her satchel, charmed with an undetectable extension charm, of various potion ingredients, candies, and a new emerald green quill with golden accents in the feather, Hermione was glad to sit and drink a butterbeer. Dean had a drink waiting for her when she arrived. "Just to say thanks for the help the other night."

"Oh you know I would always help, but thank you." Hermione have him a warm smile and sat down in between him and Seamus. After her first sip, Seamus then went on a tirade about the fairness of the upcoming Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. "You've got to admit, those wankers always find a way to take out one of our team five minutes into the match! They should be disqualified." All of the boys mumbled in agreement as Hermione took a scan of the group. She noticed Lavender inching closer to Ron and touching his arm as often as she could. It made Hermione a little uncomfortable. She had never thought of Ron or Harry in anything other than a friend love kind of way, but seeing Ron getting that kind of attention just surprised her.

Watching the clock, Hermione looked at her friends who were starting their second drink when she said it was time for her to go. "But we just got here and you've only had one." Ginny whined. "Come on, stay a bit longer! We can have some fun and play exploding snap." Ron was doing his best to keep her there as he pulled on her arm from across the table with Lavender looking on with apparent annoyance.

"I've got to go. But I'll see you guys in the common room tonight." She turned to leave and saw someone else getting up to exit, Malfoy, but he was leaving alone too. This surprised her because he was hardly alone unless he was in the library and even then he was with her. His cronies followed him everywhere.

She bundled up by the door and walked out. After about two minutes she could hear Malfoy walking behind her but keeping his distance. Hermione was never someone to let someone walk alone and if she thought Malfoy was becoming cordial to her, she wanted to test her theory so she stopped and turned around.

"If you are going to walk so close behind me, do you just want to walk together?" Draco stopped and looked behind him, "You can't possibly be talking to me." She laughed quietly to herself and waited for him to catch up. He had both of his hands shoved deep into his pockets and they kept pace with each other, although she noticed he had to slow his stride because if not he would leave her behind. After two minutes of silently walking in the snow, Hermione let out a big gust of air. Malfoy turned to her, "What are you doing now, Granger?" In his usually bored tone. She did it again.

"I love when it is cold enough to blow air and see it. Tells me that Christmas is coming." Malfoy chuckled at her innocence and said sarcastically, "that's cute, Granger." She turned and smiled at him making a point to ignore what he said and blow a gust of air out again. He was beginning to like it when she smiled at him.

"So how do you think this project is coming along?" Malfoy despised small talk, but he couldn't stop himself. "I think we are doing a pretty good job with everything considered. We haven't taken off each other's heads yet and that's a plus."

"I think that is also impressive." He thought back to all the hateful things he has yelled at her in the past and felt ashamed. "What are you thinking about?" she asked innocently. "None of your business, Granger." She looked at him and stopped. "Why do you have to be so harsh all of the time?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Anything that I say always gets an angry retort back. I was just trying to be nice to you. Ask you what you were thinking about. Shit, you could have said ponies and unicorns and I wouldn't have said a word. Why do you have to be so harsh?"

Through her tirade, she got closer to him and pushed her finger into his chest and their faces were inches apart. Malfoy looked back at her hurt eyes. They were a dark chocolate color that looked right through him and then Malfoy did something he never thought possible.

He grabbed her face and kissed her. Hard, almost aggressively. She first was stunned and then he felt her lean into him and knew he had her. Maybe Blaise was right, she could be his next target. He wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her into him.

Then it was over and she pushed on his chest. "What the hell was that?" He smirked back at her and had that lazy look on his face once again. "I'm pretty sure we both know what that was." He grabbed for her waist again to pull her back in but she pushed him away and took off down the path without him.

He smiled to himself. Until he realized what happened. He had just kissed a muggle born. Someone far below his station who wouldn't even have the honor to be a maid in his parent's manor. He scolded himself for losing control. While he was walking, he decided that it could be chocked up to enjoying the shocked silences too much and pushing her. That would clearly never happen again. When he got back to his dorm though, he couldn't stop thinking about how it felt when she leaned into him.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The next day, Hermione found herself walking back to Gryffindor tower alone because she had spent the whole day in the library hiding out. She knew she couldn't see her friends because she felt like the words, "I kissed Malfoy" were painted across her face and she truly needed to figure this out for herself before involving anyone else. Plus, _what would I even tell them? Oh hey boys, the guy you've hated for the past five years kissed me out of sheer irritation._ Nope, not a good conversation to have with her two favorite people in the world.

Walking through the portrait hole during dinner, she knew no one would be around so it was her perfect chance to slip up to the dorms without anyone being the wiser. Unfortunately, Ginny was seated on the girls dorm steps blocking her way with a brown bag on her lap. "Well, if it isn't Hermione Granger. The girl who has been MIA for about 24 hours. I was this close to sending out a search party." Ginny shot her a glare to show her overall annoyance for Hermione's absence as she stood up from the steps, brushing off the back of her jeans.

"I'm sorry, Gin. I've just been busy lately," Hermione tried to throw all of her weight behind her lame excuse, but she knew by Ginny's face that she wasn't buying it. Ginny grabbed her hand and led her to the farthest table from the portrait hole and threw a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at her along with an apple.

"Let's just talk this through. First you leave Hogsmeade early and a certain someone follows you out of the pub-" Hermione's face showed sheer shock "-your face tells me I'm right to believe he had a part in this. So spill now, or die a most gruesome death later. Take your pick."

Ginny leaned back in her chair and stared at her. Hermione sat in silence as she chewed her sandwich as slowly as possible to give herself time to think. As she thought up four excuses she could use, the look on Ginny's face made her want to be honest and honestly the stress of holding onto her secret was getting tiring. "Okay, Malfoy walked back to the castle with me. Or at least about half way." Her face got red. "And? Did he talk to you or just sulk three feet behind you? Did he hex you? Did he call you a mudblood? Or did he kiss you?" Ginny laughed as she said the last one because she knew how ridiculous it sounded. Right as she said it Hermione began to choke on her sandwich and turn an awful shade of red. "Good Godric, this cannot be real. You and Malfoy, eh? I mean I'm surprised but do I blame you? They don't call him the Slytherin sex god for no reason, right? Is he a good kisser?" Hermione let out a giant laugh.

Hermione looked around to be sure no one was around to overhear their conversation, "it was one sneak attack kiss. It meant nothing and I pushed him off. I'm pretty sure he did it to get me to stop talking. He was rather annoyed with me at the time." Ginny's mouth fell wide open.

"It is Malfoy, there is nothing going on, so don't even bother giving me that look. Remember the boy who has called me a mudblood for the last five years of my life? Yeah, same boy." Hermione rolled her eyes at the memories that flooded her mind of every rude insult that Malfoy has ever thrown at her just because of the parents she had. What a git. "Okay, yeah I get that, but are we thinking he has changed at all? I haven't heard him use that word towards you all year."

"Gin, that doesn't matter. His opinion of me has not changed. He is still the same guy." As she said it though, she didn't know if she actually believed it or if she was just trying to convince herself. Ginny gave her a knowing smile, "Well all I'm saying is I get he's actually an awful person but he is really hot, so next time don't push him off. I literally hate him as a person, but maybe this is his one redeeming quality. Now tell me, is he a good kisser?" Hermione rolled her eyes as she began to tell Ginny all about what happened on the walk back from Hogsmeade which kept them in the back corner of the Gryffindor common room until everyone started to filter back in from dinner an hour later.

That night laying in bed, Hermione felt better about telling Ginny about her current situation with her Potions partner. They reached zero conclusions on what to do, but now at least Hermione had someone to talk to.

The whole rest of the week, Hermione made it her mission to dodge seeing Malfoy as much as humanly possible. See him coming down a corridor? She would duck into the closest girls' lavatory or lag behind the group she was walking with so that she was totally hidden. Each time she saw him, her face burned a most terrible shade of scarlet, something more reminiscent of Ron's face rather than hers.

This was not the behavior of a Gryffindor and she knew this, but she thought that since she was probably the only Gryffindor who has ever kissed a Slytherin she had no one else to compare herself to on how to handle the situation.

That Thursday anyone could see that Hermione was studying alone in the library, but she could hardly stay focused on what she was reading. After reading the same line three times, she slammed her book closed and let a groan escape. Slamming her head down onto the table and receiving a startled look from Madame Pince and a group of third years congregated around a table half way across the library she sat and thought about... the incident.

Good god that kiss. A week later and she was still thinking about it. Why would he do that?She does not like him by any means and neither does he like her so why would he do that? Of course, he was attractive anyone with eyes could see that with his blonde hair and beautiful crystal blue eyes. But why would he kiss her? They were enemies. He hated her muggle heritage and she hated his pureblood status that he wore like a badge of honor.

Before she could agonize any further, she heard a slight tapping at the window beside her table. She pulled it open and a large barn owl flew in and perched on her book. After taking the note from the owl's leg it flew back out the window. She unrolled the parchment and immediately saw it was a note from Professor McGonagall.

 _Miss Granger,_

 _Miss Chang has been taken down by the stomach flu and will be unable to fill her duties tonight as Ravenclaw prefect. She patrols the corridors tonight from 7-10 pm tonight starting out in the dungeons. If possible, I would appreciate if you take her spot tonight with her usual partner. Send reply only if you are unable._

 _-Professor McGonagall_

Hermione thought about the idea and chuckled realizing only McGonagall would say someone was "taken down" by an illness as if a patrols were an act of war. Of course, she would do it for Cho because the Ravenclaw had always been friendly to Hermione and it didn't hurt that Harry had his eye on her these days. She would just trade her for her own night patrol this week. Looking at the clock it said 6:14pm. She threw her books in her bag and walked back to Gryffindor tower. Quickly waving off Harry, Ginny, and Ron who were congregated in their usual spot around the fireplace and giving them the heads up for her late night duty, she headed up to her room and organized her things before she threw on her muggle sneakers, black sweat pants, and a dark green jumper.

The corridors this late at night were always freezing and if she wasn't completely focused, a warming charm would blink on and off. Throwing her tangled curls into a ponytail, she headed for the portrait hole to meet her prefect partner for the night. As she walked the corridors she tried to think who else it could be. She thought Cho was paired with a Hufflepuff but she couldn't be sure because she was never out during another prefect's patrols.

When she came along the last bend in the dungeons where partners for patrol met with her wand held high for a Lumos spell, she spotted him. His blonde hair seemed to glow underneath the torches that lined the wall and she couldn't help but stare.

He heard footsteps and turned around and saw the one person he couldn't get out of his head. Granger. It is like she materialized right from his memory. The only thing different is she wasn't covered in snow and her clothes were very different. Anyone could tell that she was used to relaxing during her patrols with her muggle sweatpants and trainers. This made him smile slightly. "That is a good color for you." He smiled at her as she walked up to him. She looked down self conscious noticing the Slytherin colors that clad her body, and shyly smiled up at him.

"So where is Chang at? She is my usual partner. I'm assuming you paid her so that you could spend more time with me." Hermione laughed and looked at him, "She has the flu. Or faked some kind of sickness to get away from spending time with you. I'd go with the latter." He grabbed his chest like she had just stabbed him and doubled over. The boy was overly dramatic to say the least, Hermione thought to herself. She pulled his arm and they began walking. For awhile they walked in silence wands held in the air to light the way, both of their heads buzzing from what happened earlier that week. Draco would steal glances at her as they walked and noticed that he liked what he saw. She truly was beautiful in an odd sort of way. Bushy hair but nice. _Where the hell did that come from?_ Draco scolded himself for having such ridiculous thoughts.

Breaking his concentration, she stopped and turned towards him with her hand on his chest to halt him too. "Seriously Draco, what was that earlier. You can hardly stand me and you make that very clear anytime others are around and yet, you kissed me." Draco wasn't used to being confronted so openly like this because people were usually too scared to do so. But she was not scared, it seemed like she never was. He opened his mouth ready to spit the words out and then clamped it shut. He continued to walk. "I need an answer. It just doesn't make sense." Hermione would not let this go. "Obviously a serious lack of good judgement on my part. I know you hate me, Granger. I temporarily lost my mind."

Hermione looked at him with a confused look on her face and then grabbed his arm to make him face her, "I don't hate you. You make me crazy and a lot of the time I think you are cruel and mean, but I don't hate you." He looked back at her and knew she meant what she said. "I'm pretty sure with all of the things I've said to you, I deserve your hatred."

After staring into his eyes for what seemed like forever as Draco started to worry about what she might say to that he heard, "Draco, I forgive you."

With that, they began walking again in silence. This left him with more to think about. Why would she forgive him for his past? No one else ever had? But he noticed that Hermione was not like other people. In a lot of ways.

After about an hour of walking in complete silence other than the tapping of their shoes and seeing absolutely nothing, Draco walked over to a wall near the Charms classrooms and sat down. Hermione looked tired and sat down next to him. He leaned back and put his arms behind him, one casually behind Hermione also. She felt his arm move and a shiver ran through her spine. He closed his eyes and smiled. She liked it. She liked their weird situation that could go no where after their project was over.

"What do you want to do now?" She asked thinking about which corridor to head down next. "I think you know exactly what I want to do, Granger." She looked at him and a lazy smile spread across his face as his eyes pulled open and narrowed in on her lips.

She gave an awkward laugh and tried to push herself up to stand, but he grabbed her waist and pulled her onto his lap. Now his face was only an inch away from hers. He leaned in and kissed her. She felt herself relax and lean into him for a second time that week. This time not a hard kiss but gentle. Exploring her lips while his hands pulled her closer and felt the bare skin of her waist.

He couldn't understand why he was doing it, but he felt good. She felt good. He didn't want to be anywhere else.

Hermione's mind had seemed to melt right through the floor when he kissed her. His hair was soft underneath her hands and she couldn't help grabbing it a little tighter than she needed to.

He pulled away from her and looked her deep in the eyes, like he was searching for something. "You know this can't turn into anything." He said it as a statement, not a question but she didn't care. "Who said I wanted it to turn into anything, Malfoy?"

"You will." Then with a wry smile, he pulled them both up to stand. He looked at her one last time and walked away. She looked down at her watch _10:03pm_.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Being this is my first fanfiction looking for as much constructive feedback as possible. I feel like I might have rushed it. Did I make him too tolerable too quickly? Let me know!


	5. Chapter 5

Draco lay in bed the next morning stewing on what an absolute moron he was. _Kissing Granger? Have I lost my mind for a second time?_ He rolled out of bed with a grunt knowing if any of the other Slytherins found out what was going on, he would hear about it in an irate howler from his father by the next day. Part of the problem of being a Slytherin is everyone is self-serving and taking down a Malfoy would be a plus for the rest of the families because they could twist anything to get something out of it.

Draco made his way to the Great Hall knowing full well that he was already late to his first class, he might as well take his time due to the whirring in his head all night after leaving Granger in the Charms corridor. As he sat down by himself at the Slytherin table, a large eagle with glossy black and white speckled wings swooped in and as it approached him his stomach dropped to the floor. This could only mean one thing, a letter from his father.

He saw his name written in emerald green ink and the tight scrawl of his father's penmanship and his stomach did not relax. He knew when his father wrote him there was urgent business to attend to and for Draco that was never anything good. Ripping open the letter, he read:

 _Draco,_

 _Your mother and I have been informed of two very important matters. One being that Hermione Granger has been assigned your partner by Severus. This is something that I find despicable of him to enforce upon you knowing our situation and what is expected of us. This can only hurt us. You must keep your distance from this girl while I try to impose upon him the seriousness of this predicament he has put us in. She will no longer be your partner by the end of the week.-_

Truly Draco was surprised it took his father three weeks to figure out that Hermione had been his Potions partner. He knew Pansy as well as the rest of her posse had all written to their mothers talking of their "worry" for Draco's situation. When in reality it was all about staking their claim on him, his life was hardly his own. It was all about future matches and possible mess ups to prevent them.

 _Secondly, we have heard rumors that Dolores Umbridge will be coming to Hogwarts and implementing many new regulations on the students and staff alike. It is your job to make this an easy transition and aid her in anyway possible. Make us proud._

 _-Your father_

 _P.S. Your mother will be writing soon._

That was it. No sentimentality or even asking how his classes were going, but that was exactly what Draco expected from his father. He knew his mother would send a letter in a week or so describing the latest gossip in her circle along with how much she missed him along with Trixi's chocolate chip cookies. Often it felt like his mother and his house elf were the only two people who cared about him, other than his father's constant worry that he would somehow besmirch the family name.

As usual after a letter from home, Draco found himself in a foul mood. He gulped down the rest of his pumpkin juice, stuffed an apple in his bag, and rushed from the hall with his bag slung over his shoulder before he even knew where his feet were taking him.

Hermione woke up feeling utter relief. Draco blatantly told her that whatever was going on between them was honestly nothing and it would continue to be nothing and she couldn't be happier. She felt slightly sick comparing herself to Lavender Brown when thinking about her "nothing is going on" relationships, but if that is what is happening here she was fine with that. She only had to worry if she also began to flip her hair from side to side and giggle uncontrollably when Ron said something less than dazzling. With this revelation, she realized how all feelings of having to impress him fell away because it isn't like it mattered and it wouldn't happen again. _Or would it? Do I want it to?_

Her Fridays were always rather simple therefore she had a lot of time to think which usually didn't bother her, but today her thoughts were slightly more chaotic than usual. Pulling her away from her day long reverie was Ginny as they were both returning to the Gryffindor common room after their last classes that day. Linking her arm around Hermione's, "Hey, Fred and George are organizing a party since Weasley's Wizard Wheezes has gotten so popular this year. I really think they just want to have a party, but I'm cool with either." Giving her friend a giant smile, Hermione knew that Ginny would not let her get away from the party once it started, but she had a lot of work to do before Christmas break which was only a month away.

Pulling free from Ginny, "Gin, I promise I will come and meet you later but I have to go to the library and finish up some work." Ginny gave her an unimpressed look. Staring hard at Hermione she replied monotonously, "If you aren't there by 6:30, I am coming to get you. No exceptions." Hermione plastered a smile and nodded as she backed away from Ginny, "Deal!"

Hermione turned and began walking towards the library until she was out of sight from Ginny and rushed down different corridors that were becoming less populated with students while her pack was jumping on her back. At last she reached her destination and ran up a tall staircase on the opposite side of the castle from Ginny and the rest of her friends.

Draco had been in the Astronomy Tower since the beginning of the day with his books spread everywhere and the letter crumpled up on the hard stone floor across the room. He laid on the floor with his pack under his head and the breathtaking view of the Hogwarts grounds spread before him. Although he often hated his professors and his peers, no one could tell him that Hogwarts wasn't beautiful. Often he found himself in the Astronomy Tower because he knew he would not run into any other students until at least 10 pm when he would leave. The Astronomy Tower was almost always completely deserted until students came up for the observation classes.

As he drifted off to sleep, his last thoughts wandered to the excuse he would give when questioned about where he was that day. _I'll tell Snape I was sick..._

Draco woke up from the sound of padding shoes and the rustling of paper. He laid there for a second then heard it again, peaking one eye open he saw Hermione standing by the staircase holding a crumpled paper in her hands. Draco pushed himself up onto his hands and realized what she was reading, his letter from his father. Jumping to his feet, he quickly walked over to her and ripped the letter out of her hands, "Can't you mind your own business, Granger. Good God, you'd think you wouldn't go snooping through someone else's mail."

He tried to hurl as much anger behind his voice as he could, but it came out more hurt than angry and she heard the difference. Turning her face towards him she tilted her head and looked at him with her big brown sad eyes. Putting her hand on his arm, "He didn't even ask you how you were. Is that normal?" Looking at her looking at him like he was some whipped puppy would usually put his defenses up, but for some reason he just didn't have the will to fight her.

Draco pulled away from her and walked back towards his pack and books by the window. Roughly sitting back in his spot and throwing his letter on the ground near him, he laid back down and closed his eyes. "I assume your avoiding someone, Granger, so you can stay up here if you don't talk too much." A slight smile curved across her face and she took up the space one window down with her back against the window pane. Arranging her books, she looked over at Draco and finally felt like she was seeing someone that not many people knew. The Draco that wouldn't keep his distance from her even when his father asked and the Draco that couldn't constantly be on the defensive and she liked that guy. Hermione realized that he might have the potential to be a good person after all.

After about an hour, Draco became restless knowing that Hermione was only a couple feet from him. The constant rustling of paper and moving of heavy books as well as the overwhelming smell of vanilla and brown sugar was becoming impossible to ignore. While still laying on his back, he crumpled up different pieces of parchment around him and began making a stack. Hermione completely ignored him. Smiling to himself, he charmed the crumpled parchment, along with his father's letter, to levitate over to Hermione and pelt her in the face. Leaning to the side, Draco watched the onslaught of paper hit her and fall to the ground as two pieces entwined themselves into her hair and he let out a loud laugh.

Hermione pulled a piece of parchment out of her hair as she turned to glare at Draco. If looks could kill, Draco knew he would be dead on the spot but then she charmed a large wooden wall about six feet tall and six feet wide between them. Thinking that Hermione was just going to ignore him he laid his head back down feeling deflated from her ignoring him. But right as he laid his head back down, an icy snowball landed on his closed eyes.

Quickly sputtering into a seated position and trying to charm his own wall, Draco was hit with another five snowballs in the chest. He could hear Hermione laughing when he let out an annoyed grunt. Leaning against his own wall he began to make as many snowballs as he could. With a stack of fifteen, he levitated them over both walls and dropped them at the same time Hermione charmed hers to come around his wall and get him from the sides. This went on for another five minutes until Draco knew he had to end this.

Peaking around his wall, he ran towards hers and grabbed her around the waist and spinning around landed on an enlarged bean bag that he transfigured one of the melting snowballs into. Hermione let out a surprised laugh as she landed on Draco and relaxed into him. "We have to stop meeting like this, Granger. People are going to start talking." Draco gave her a smile and pulled himself out from under her so that only his arm was around her and she was still leaned into his side. Looking at the bean bag, Hermione had a curious look on her face, "How do you know what a bean bag is? This is just about as Muggle as it gets." Draco reddened slightly, "Well I saw them in a store window in Muggle London once when I was with my mother. It was the first thing that popped into my mind." Hermione nodded as if this was an understandable answer, "My friend Heather from back home has six. When I saw her over the summer, I walked into her room and they covered every inch of her floor." Draco was taken aback by Hermione's willingness to share about her Muggle life.

Suddenly becoming uncomfortable from the closeness, Hermione pulled herself out of the enlarged bean bag and returned to her spot on the floor. Casting a spell to get rid of the melting snowballs and her wall she began to pack up her bag with her books, parchment, and new quill. Draco walked over and left the bean bag in the corner of the room and began to clean up his own area scattered with books and parchment. Hermione walked over to him with her bag stuffed full and leaned down next to him, "Draco, if it would make it easier for you, I will tell Snape I don't want to be your partner anymore." With sincerity in her eyes, she put her hand on his cheek and gave him a quick kiss. She then stood up and walked out of the Astronomy Tower without looking back.

Draco sat back down and put his head in his hands. He was starting to really enjoy being around Hermione and realizing that she would do something to make his life easier only made it more obvious that he knew this will get him into more trouble with his father. Grabbing his stuff he began his long walk back to the Slytherin common room still smelling the sweet vanilla and brown sugar that clung to his shirt.

Hermione arrived back at the Gryffindor common room just as Fred brought out all of the food and drinks that he, George, and Lee Jordan smuggled out of the kitchens. Ginny saw her coming through the portrait hole and pushed around the group of students dancing to the latest Weird Sisters album, "Wow, you are here a lot sooner than I thought you would be." Hermione gave her a smile, "Well, I was getting distracted so I thought I might as well come back and just work more tomorrow."

"Perfect!" Ginny then started pulling her through the group of students dancing and they groaned with annoyance as Ginny pushed through them ignoring their protests. Hermione smiled uncomfortably at them and said sorry as Ginny continued pulling her. Finally ending up at a table in the back near the windows with Harry and Ron already sitting there with Lavender draped across Ron giggling at whatever he said. Ron seemed rather pleased with himself. Harry looked disgusted by the scene playing in front of him so a sigh of relief was released when he saw Ginny and Hermione talking a seat across from him.

Passing them both a butterbeer, Harry began telling a story of something that had happened earlier that day but Hermione's mind was elsewhere.

"Hermione?" Shaken from her stupor by Harry's voice, Hermione realized a large barn owl was pecking at the window behind her. Opening the window and untying the small piece of parchment she read the note,

 _I don't want another partner._

A huge smile took over Hermione's face. "Mione, what is that?" Harry asked with a questioning look. "Just homework stuff," Hermione replied back easily taking her seat next to Ginny. "Only Hermione could be that excited about homework notes." Ron laughed and began telling a story but Hermione wasn't even listening.


	6. Chapter 6

The next Monday, Hermione had Double Potions with the Slytherins and Ravenclaws and knew the end of their partner projects was drawing near. Although she was excited that it was ending and Christmas break was that much closer, her heart gave a twist of disappointment knowing her mandated time with Draco would also be over. After their project, Hermione had no reason to talk to him anymore.

Hermione walked into the dungeon flanked by Harry and Ron arguing about the most recent Quidditch game while Harry loosened his tie and they took their usual seats near the front of the class. Harry and Ron sat in front of her at an empty table and Hermione sat behind usually accompanied by Neville before the bell rang. She was sitting in her chair outlining her notes from her last class and she heard the usual sound of Neville sitting down beside her. Turning and looking up with a smile on her face, she was not greeted by Neville but Draco was sitting beside her pulling out his books and notes as he turned and flashed her a rare smile to counter her look of confusion.

"Not to worry, Granger, I wont bite. I just need the notes from last Friday since I missed and I don't trust anyone else to have good enough notes." Draco whispered that last part with a wink. Hermione returned it with an eye roll and a small smile and pulled out her notes and handed them over to Draco. They were color coded. Draco should have known her notes would be more detailed than he would ever make himself, but he still didn't want to ask Blaise or Theo who were both perfectly good note takers. Hearing this exchange, Harry and Ron turned around with a start. "What do you want, Malfoy? Can't find any of your lackeys for some decent notes?" spat Ron followed with a sneer.

Draco's whole demeanor changed when his eyes left Hermione and landed on Weasel turned around in his seat like this was his business. "Well being that Hermione is the only person in the school who rivals my own intelligence, why would I want anyone else's notes?" Although he sounded angry and annoyed by Weasley, he realized he just complimented Hermione in a big way.

Hermione turned in her chair and stared at him dumbfounded. Her bushy brown hair falling in front of her face and her hands limp at her sides with her mouth hanging open because she had been ready to shoot an insult at him. Ron stared between her and Draco and back, then mumbled, "Oh uh, yeah. Okay." and turned back around. When she finally came out of her stupor she could hear Harry whispering to Ron, "did he just call her, Hermione?" and Ron replying equally stunned, "Mate, I don't know but I don't like this."

Hermione's face went red and she turned to him while scooting her chair forward and looking down, "thank you. That was actually nice of you." Her eyes met his, "Yes, well don't get used to it. Wouldn't want it going to your head." Hermione could see the pink blush blossoming on Draco's neck and she smiled to herself. He was just as surprised by his comment as she was.

Right as she was turning forward, Hermione felt a sharp poke in her back and turning back around she saw Pansy Parkinson standing and glaring down at her. "You are in my seat. Move. Now." Hermione cocked an eyebrow at her, "That's cute, but I'm not moving. If Draco wants to sit next to you, I suggest you find a seat together quickly." With that Hermione turned around and waited for Draco to take her notes and head to the back of the room with Pansy in tow, but he stayed seated exactly where he was, even making himself more comfortable in his chair by leaning back and stretching out his long legs. "Pansy, I sat with her so just go sit down. "

"Draco, you cannot be serious. You are going to sit with this mudblood? What would your father say?"

"Pansy, you sound like a complete git when you say that word and I'm not sure, why don't you tell me since your parents have already told my father so much about me this year. Also, I would stop making that face, it's not very becoming." Hermione let out a stifled laugh as Pansy stopped crinkling her nose and squinting her eyes and had a look of sheer annoyance in her eyes when she shot one last glare at Hermione and huffed to the back of the room with the rest of the Slytherins.

Class went on as usual after Professor Snape walked in and gave a quick confused glance towards Hermione and Draco and then went on with business as usual. Unfortunately for Draco, he forgot that Hermione's perfume was strong and all he could smell was vanilla and brown sugar. It was impossible to focus with that. Towards the end of class, as many students started to pack up their belongings, Snape quieted them, "After extensive thought, I believe that making your projects due the week before Christmas break will allow the more advanced students to take advantage of a longer fermentation time, while the students who are found lacking will have time to redo their potion when the end results are not up to my standards. Many students, I should hope, have started to sign up for a time slot to work in one of the Potions labs within the week to brew your potions. That is all, you may go." Hermione started picking up her books and shoving them back into her overstuffed leather pack and looked at Draco, "Hey, our lab time is right after this. You have a free period, right?"

"Yes, I do." As they started walking through the lines of desks towards the door, Professor Snape called Draco back, "Mr. Malfoy, I need you to stay behind for a couple of minutes." Hermione looked at Draco and raised her eye brows and continued towards the door. Draco turned around and walked up to Snape's desk. "Sir?"

"Your father has brought to my attention that your partnership with Miss Granger has been less than fortuitous. Is this a problem for you?"

"Sir, I know my father sent you a letter, but I have no problem working with Granger. I actually prefer her as a partner at this point because it would be too much work to find someone else." He knew this was a lie and his reason for wanting to be her partner was much more selfish but he didn't care, he wasn't going to let his father ruin this too. "I'm glad to hear it because I told your father I would not switch you unless a real problem was found. I'm glad there is not. Have a good day, Mr. Malfoy." With that, Snape went back to straightening his desk as a sign that the conversation was over. Draco mumbled a goodbye and walked out of the room towards the labs. Draco was surprised by how easy it was to go against his father with Snape's support, but he knew he would hear about it sooner or later. Just because his father wasn't here at school didn't mean that he didn't still have his claws in him. Also, pushing Pansy earlier in front of the entire class of Slytherins probably wasn't the smartest thing he'd ever done. That was right up there with choosing to sit by Hermione with the flimsy reason of wanting her notes.

Walking down the hall with his hands in his pockets looking into each lab that he passed for Hermione, Draco didn't see Blaise creep up behind him and tap him on one shoulder and walk around his other side. Draco looked over at Blaise and rolled his eyes, "What's up, mate?" A huge smile spread across Blaise's face, "I gotta say it. I'm surprised by you and Granger. Who knew you would get along so well. I had an idea from the very beginning that you two were more than just partners, but that little scene you had with Pansy at the beginning of class just sealed the deal." Blaise doubled over laughing when Draco let out a stuttered, "I. Uh. Well. No."

"Holy shit, I'm right. This is rare, but I could get used to it. Wow." Blaise shook his head in disbelief at Draco and continued laughing.

"Zabini, there is nothing going on between Granger and I. Swear it. You know that would be impossible."

"Don't bother lying to me now. Your face says it all. Now I have to go find my partner, I just wanted to check in with you first."

Giving Draco a knowing smile, Blaise walked off towards the adjacent dungeon hall that held more potions labs that many students were now filing into to begin their brewing process. Walking slowly, Draco peaked into the last room and saw Hermione chopping up different ingredients and heating the cauldron on an open flame. Draco walked through the door quietly and shut it behind him. Sneaking up behind Hermione he grabbed her sides, "hey," and Hermione jumped and grabbed her chest as she turned around and saw Draco. Leaning against the table she took a couple deep breaths and then immediately began hitting Draco in the chest. " No. One. Likes. To. Be. Snuck. Up. On!" Punctuating every word with another hit to the chest. Draco grabbed both of her hands to stop the blows from coming, "Okay. Too hard to resist." Letting go of one hand, he turned towards the table looking over the ingredients list and instructions while still holding onto her right hand.

Feeling suddenly self conscious, Hermione pulled her hand out of his and went back to chopping different ingredients. Draco acted like he didn't notice and started adding the ingredients into the cauldron and followed the instructions meticulously.

An hour later they had all of the ingredients in the cauldron and were now simmering the potion as the directions showed. The silver color of the liquid needed to turn into a more translucent silver color in the next half hour for the potion to be successful. Both were sitting at a lab table next to each other writing up their observations of the potion making process when Hermione got up the nerve to ask Draco what had been on her mind since the day before, "So does your father always send you such formal letters? It felt like it was from more of a boss than a dad." Draco, caught off guard, sighed and continued writing without looking up at her, "If you haven't noticed, my father isn't someone anyone would call 'dad', Hermione. He isn't a warm and fuzzy person like all of you, Gryffindorks." At this he turned his face towards her and smirked showing he was kidding, but she there was truth in what he said. She could tell from that cold letter that he was not a 'dad' but definitely a father. That pulled at her heart a little bit. "Well yeah, but isn't he proud of you for how you do in school and everything? Sucking up to Umbridge shouldn't be the only thing that would make him proud."

"Well of course not, but he does have a lot of expectations, some of them being my good marks, and I must rise to meet them. They are not cause for celebration because that is just expected. It's just the way things have to be." By this time, Draco put his pencil down and was now looking at her. "I know you don't get it. No one does. I'm a Malfoy. I've got to do right by my family and I don't need you looking down on that. If my father needs me to do whatever Umbridge asks, I will because I have to. There is no choice here, it's do as your told or receive the consequences. My whole life was planned out for me before I was even born. What I want to do is not going to change that." Hermione's face showed the disappointment that she felt coursing through her stomach due to his grim outlook. _How could someone so smart have such a lack of options_ she thought.

Hermione then grabbed his hand off of the desk and squeezed it, "For the way you act towards me these days, I don't think you do exactly what your father expects of you. I mean come on, you yelled at Pansy for calling me a mudblood. That was not the Malfoy I knew two months ago." She shot him a smile trying to ease the tension that suddenly built up in the room, that reached all the way to her eyes and he got up from his stool and put his hands on the lab table on either side of her, "You want me to do something else my father would never expect me to do?" At this, he started leaning in to kiss her and Hermione was basically jumping out of her seat to meet him half way wrapping her arms around his neck when the lab door swung open and hit the wall.

"Caught in the act, I see! Draco, you dog, I knew you liked her but shouldn't you be making a potion?" Blaise strutted into the room and wiggled his eyebrows at Hermione when Draco turned to look at him. Hermione grabbed Draco's face and turned it back towards her. "You told him? What the hell? I thought this was. Well, not real. That's what you said!" Draco felt his heart start to squeeze, "I hardly told him we were about to walk down the aisle, calm down. He won't tell anyone."

Turning her whole body back towards the table, Hermione started packing up her books in a rushed sort of way and pushed Draco's arm out of the way so she could leave. She huffed all the way to the door and then abruptly turned around to face him. "Well, I told Ginny so it looks like we are even." Shot him a glare and then walked quickly out of the room back towards the main staircase. Draco plopped down on the stool behind him and turned to stare at the door, "You, sir, are the epitome of subtlety," Draco said monotonously. "You know I wont tell anyone. She's fiery. I like her. Plus she told Girl Weasley so she must like you too... but you know this will never work, right?" Blaise's tone lost all humor and sat down next to Draco both boys staring at the door Hermione just left through. "Yeah, I know."

 **What are your thoughts on how this is going? Trying to get everybody to feel something for Draco. I know exactly how this is going to end so I will hopefully be cranking out more chapters soon.**


	7. Chapter 7

Later that week during Defense Against the Dark Arts, Draco couldn't help falling asleep at his desk with Pansy stoically sitting next to him. She had refused to acknowledge him for the past couple of days and it seemed like she was willing to continue. Umbridge was on about resolving conflicts with dark wizards through restorative conversations. It was laughable. Draco knew from personal experience that no matter what, a wizard like his father and his acquaintances wouldn't have a conversation with anyone if they had a reason to hurt them. Or sometimes they didn't even have a reason other than someone was in their way.

After Umbridge ended class, Draco sat up from the slouch he adopted during his nap and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes while getting to his feet to leave when he heard someone clear their throat politely behind him. He turned and saw Umbridge standing in front of him with her bright magenta colored matching skirt and jacket, her hands clasped in front of her with an over eager look in her eye.

Draco plastered a fake smile his father would be proud of on his face, "Yes, Professor?"

"Mr. Malfoy, I don't know if you knew this, but your father and I were very good friends when I was still working at the Ministry,-" At this, Draco internally rolled his eyes because his father didn't have friends. "-Recently, we had a lovely chat about how you would be willing to head a new squad of trustworthy and reliable students to sniff out destructive behavior in your peers." She ended this with a demure smile. Draco could gag, of course his father signed him up to be snitch. In his past five years, he had broken his fair share of school rules and no one had ever snitched. It felt wrong to turn on other Slytherins who could have easily turned on him over the years. "If that is what you need, Professor, I will do that."

"Well this is wonderful news and I cannot wait to get started. The administration has heard whispers that a group of students have banded together to make something called Dumbledore's Army in protest against my additional position as Headmistress. We believe that Mr. Potter is heading this little gang. I know Miss Granger is a part of this group and I want you to talk to her during your next meeting for your Potions assignment. Do your best to get some information from her. I know you wont let me or your father down."

Draco was shaken; Hermione had been in a secret group for however long and he had no idea. He knew they still had their own secrets, but this seemed like a big one. Right as he thought this he remembered what she said the last time he saw her, _I thought this was. Well, not real._ Who was he to be mad? He started this and she believed him when he said this couldn't be anything, but now it was him who was wanting more. He wanted her to be able to tell him about things like Dumbledore's Army. After ironing out a few more details with Umbridge and receiving his Inquisitorial Squad badge, Draco shoved it deep into his pocket, picked up his pack and left the classroom in a beeline for the library. By this time, he had already decided that although Umbridge made him the head snitch he wasn't going to do this job exceptionally well. No one would know, even his father, if he had an opportunity to get information and didn't choose to report back. Draco was able to make it to the library in only a couple of minutes thanks to the slight jog he broke into when no one else was in the corridors. The sooner he told Hermione the better.

Zipping through the aisles and the many different groups of students clustered around tables due to first term nearing its end, Draco finally saw her bushy hair leaning over a book at her usual table while scribbling on a piece of parchment. When he walked up to her, Hermione's head snapped up and she visibly softened and a smile spread across her face. Draco sat down at the open chair and turned towards her reaching into his left pocket for his new badge. He took a deep breath to launch into the story he had to tell her when she cut him off, "I'm sorry." Draco's mouth slammed shut. "I shouldn't have gone off like that. I had no right to get mad because I had told Ginny a month ago about what has been going on between us, so I was just as guilty as you were. And if you say Zabini won't say anything then I doubt he would. So I'm sorry." With this, she gave him a tentative smile and grabbed his right hand that was resting on the table.

Draco squeezed her hand back and leaned in and kissed her. During this brief kiss, Draco felt the cool metal of the pin on his badge click loose from its holding and prick his palm. This jolted Draco from his momentary bliss and reminded him of why he came to find her. With a grim expression, he pulled away from Hermione and threw the badge on the table in front of her. The shiny silver metal gleamed in the light of the library, where Hermione could clearly see the emblem of the Ministry of Magic and a dragon on top of it. She gave him a questioning look and he launched into the story he planned on telling her the minute Umbridge told him of her offer.

"And that is why I'm here. I wanted to let you know that you are being watched quite carefully, I'd assume, and I'm supposed to get information from you." Draco looked at her expectantly in hopes that she would know what to do, but what he saw was shock and hurt cross Hermione's face. "So what have you told her?"

"What? I haven't told her anything. As far as she knows, we are partners for a potions project and nothing more."

"Why are you doing this, Draco?" Now she was just baiting him, "You know why I'm doing this. For my family. She obviously has a lot of pull at the Ministry and I can't mess that up for my father." His voice was calm and measured, but he could feel his anger starting to climb to life as he could feel her judging him. "But shouldn't this be your life? Why don't you join us, I know you don't believe in all that that woman is doing. We are learning what we need to fight dark wizards that we will surely face soon! I won't let her take that away from us!" Hermione's own anger began to flare to life the more she whispered at Draco, "The Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts and no one is doing anything but us! We must teach ourselves if no one is willing to teach us. Don't you see, Draco, this war is coming and I refuse to not be prepared."

"You have forgotten, Hermione, but my family are those dark wizards that you are going to end up fighting. I will be one of them. I will not turn on my family! And if Umbridge wants me to spy then I will. I just thought I would let you know that your little group needs to hide better. The fact that she knows at all should tell you that this is a bad idea. If you want to go down for this, I can't stop you, but you cannot believe that I will too. I won't use our relationship to help her, but if anyone brings me evidence of Dumbledore's Army I'll have to use it."

With this Hermione searched his face for any sort of deception lurking behind his crystal blue grey eyes and found none. She never expected him to join Dumbledore's Army but she knew she had to ask because there was still that little ember of hope in her that believed he had changed. Draco now turned his body fully towards her and pulled her so that she was doing the same. Their knees knocked together and he grabbed both of her hands looking deep into her brown eyes, "I want to still see you and talk to you, but I understand that this changes things. Quaffle is in your pitch." He squeezed her hands and gave her a small smile. Letting go, he stood up grabbed his badge off the table, slung his pack across one shoulder and walked towards the exit. Hermione watched him, paralyzed with the unknown.

Days passed and Hermione had not spoken to Draco since their last encounter in the library. She avoided his glances and made sure to be the first out of every class they shared. It seemed that he was giving her space also because he did not try to sit by her anymore and generally kept his distance. What Draco didn't know was that Hermione would steal glances at him every chance she could. She missed him and she hated that. It was such a trivial thing, caring about someone, who you shouldn't have ever cared about in the first place. After finding out that Umbridge was watching them, Hermione quickly had gone to Harry and told him of their new predicament. He asked her how she knew and he didn't question that she heard a group of Fourth Year Slytherins talking in the corner of the library about the new squad they had joined at Umbridge's behest. The Room of Requirement had seemingly fixed their problems because now they had a place to practice without fear of being found or so she hoped, but her heart still hurt.

Walking out of her last class, Ginny had seen her walking trance-like through the corridor and linked her arm with Hermione's and steered her towards the closest girls' lavatory. After checking beneath the stalls for other girls and finding none, Ginny turned towards her, "What is going on with you and Draco? You walk around hardly seeing what is going on in front of you and he just looks sad. Did you end it? The sweet love making becoming to much for you?" Of course Ginny couldn't make anything sound too serious or she would instantly become awkward and stoic. "He is working for Umbridge and they are trying to catch Dumbledore's Army." Ginny's laugh lines faded and she looked sadly at Hermione. "Would he turn us in? Should we be worried? Did you tell him anything about the Room of Requirement?" The barrage of questions were answered with one single word, "No."

"What do you mean 'no'?"

"I mean that he doesn't know anything. He won't turn us in unless someone else brings him evidence and he has to use it and we should only be worried that Umbridge has made a squad of Slytherins, including Draco, to bring us down."

"Then why are you punishing him?"

"What do you mean? I am not punishing him. He chose to be a part of that."

"Hmm.. not talking to him and making both him and yourself miserable, yeah that sounds like punishment to me. He isn't turning us in and do you think he really had much of choice? His father isn't someone I would mess with. Cut him some slack." Ginny gave her one last look, turned and walk away. Hearing her push through the door, Hermione knew that she wanted to make things right with Draco for whatever time they had left. Like the end of their project was the end of their budding romance, but she knew that it was much bigger than that.

After sending Draco an owl to meet her, Hermione paced back and forth in the Astronomy Tower. It was around dinner time so she knew no other students would be coming up until about 10pm for classes. She told Draco to meet her at 6. It was now 6:08 and he still had not shown, so Hermione continued to pace wondering how long she should wait until she gave up hope and left. As she finally decided to leave and turned towards the stairs, Draco walked in.

Draco had been waiting at the bottom of the stairs for the past thirty minutes pacing back and forth. He felt stupid for letting her avoid him so easily because he hadn't stopped thinking about her since they last time they talked. He didn't know what he wanted to say to her that would make her see why he joined up. Once he found the courage he climbed the stairs to meet her.

Seeing her staring at him made him stop short and stare back at her. He hadn't expected her to be walking towards the stairwell to leave. Glancing at his watch he noticed it was now 6:14. He was wearing converse high tops with jeans and a plain grey shirt. It was a very plain outfit, but somehow Draco looked like he just walked out of a Wizards Weekly magazine. Seeing him made Hermione's heart flutter around in her chest like a caged owl. She felt nervous and awkward because she truly didn't know what she wanted to say even when she asked him to meet her. She just knew that she missed him and that was enough.

Draco stared at Hermione trying to memorize her face as if this was the last time he would ever see her. Walking towards her, he wrapped her in a hug and pulled her close. Draco nuzzled his face into her big curly hair and breathed her in. He missed her and receiving that owl earlier only solidified that fact. He could feel her relax into his arms, "I'm sorry. I know that you don't have a choice and I still acted like you did."

"I'm sorry for not being the guy you thought I could be." This admission stopped Hermione's heart and she looked up into his crystal blue eyes with a mixture of love and empathy and taking his hand she led him to sit down at the cushioned benches near the windows overlooking the Hogwarts grounds and beautiful view of a clear dark night beginning to form overhead through the skylights.

Once sat, Hermione turned towards him and straddled her legs across his lap. With his hands tracing around her waist, Hermione kissed him gently along his jaw line and Draco let out an excited shiver. Kissing a line down the side of his neck she whispered, "There's still time." At her admission of undeniable hope for him, Draco grabbed her around the waist and laid her along the cushions and kissed her hungrily as he lowered himself on top of her.


	8. Chapter 8

Hermione was walking down the corridor seemingly on air. A small smile was constantly on her face as she remembered her night with Draco, so the conversations swirling around her went completely unnoticed. "Hermione? Helllloooooo..." Ron was waving his hand in front of her face and she was startled out of her reverie as they walked towards their next class with Ginny's arm linked around hers. Harry trailed behind them with his face buried in a Transfiguration textbook, the final was in three days, and Luna speaking wistfully to him on the ways to prevent the wrackspurts swarming his head. "Oh sorry, Ron. What did you say?"

I was just asking if you are ready for your Charms final? I know it is tomorrow, but I could really use some help studying." Ron gave her the puppy dog eyes that were hard to turn away. "Actually Ron, I'm busy." Hermione gave a quick look to Ginny. "Yeah Ron, sorry. She's hanging out with me tonight. We, uh, have to work on some stuff." Ron shot her an inquisitive and slightly annoyed look. "What could you possibly have to work on? You aren't even in the same year." Ginny gave him a little smirk. She was eerily good at lying on the spot, "Christmas gifts obviously. So if you don't want a gift then I can arrange that and she can help you study instead." She gave her brother a very innocent smile and knew she had him. "Oh no, that's fine. I understand," Ron let out a long held relaxing breath, "I can't wait to be home and away from school for a bit. Too many Slytherins around for my liking." Ron said this just loud enough to be heard by the group of Slytherins walking by in the opposite direction which contained one Draco Malfoy.

Draco had seen Hermione from the opposite end of the corridor and he hadn't taken his eyes off of her. He was silently trying to will her to look up at him. She had a cute little smile on her face before Weasel waved his hand in her face startling her. As they got closer to passing one another, Draco could feel the warming blush creep up his neck. This had never happened before. Draco had gotten to know and even liked some girls in the past couple years but never had he blushed when seeing them. They did the blushing and fawning. Not him.

Theo and Blaise were talking animatedly next to Draco about where they thought Dumbledore had ran off to as well as what he was doing. "I see Dumbledore as this sage ladies' man who could tell a great story and then wham, that seals the deal." Theo looked at the floor and shook his head ruefully, "Dude, I'm pretty sure Dumbledore isn't like that. Like at all." Theo gave Blaise a sideways glance and continued laughing and as Blaise came to the realization of what he said a giant "Oh!" took over his whole face and he began to hit Theo triumphantly on the arm. "Dude, I get it! Like he's not _like_ that. How do you know this?" Before Theo could answer, Weasel made his Slytherin comment and Draco knew that Theo and Blaise wouldn't be able to let that go. Even Draco about three months ago wouldn't have let that go, but things change. Draco cringed inside as he saw Theo turn, all mirth gone from his face, and stop Weasley from moving with an outstretched arm.

Right at that moment both Harry and Luna ran into the three in front of them and looked up confused. The confusion on Potter's face quickly turned to a sneer when he saw who had stopped him. "Move your arm, Nott. We are trying to get to class." With this, Theo placed his body directly in front of Weasley, "See here is the thing. I have trouble with letting scum go by when they talk shit." Theo gave him an _it's out of my hands_ kind of shrug and looked back at Blaise and Draco for back up. Like old times, Blaise stepped to one side of Theo and Draco faltered and then moved to his other side. He was standing directly in front of Hermione and it seemed that she had the same matching blush on her neck as she stared up at him. On her it looked rather cute, like a place that Draco wanted to explore with his mouth. Right as the thought entered his head, he cast it aside quickly. He knew he had to talk down Theo or they would all get into trouble by the end of this.

Draco elbowed Theo, "Let's just leave it." Theo looked back at him with a disgusted look and turned back to Ron seemingly ignoring his request. "So this will go one of two ways, you say you're sorry or you get pummeled in front of your little girlfriend," turning his gaze to Hermione. Although the tension could be cut with a knife, Hermione giggled slightly. All eyes turned to her, "Oh uh we aren't dating." Ginny then locked eyes with Draco and gave him a knowing smirk and crossed her arms over her chest then squaring up to Blaise refusing to look away from his eyes. Draco then turned towards Blaise and Theo and tried to catch Blaise's eye but he was too busy staring down Ginny or was he staring at her? He couldn't tell. Blaise looked back right as Weasley said, "You're really calling me scum? Isn't your dad one of the guys in Azkaban?" Draco knew there was no avoiding it. Theo's arm cocked back and collided with Ron's face right as Blaise and Draco sprang forward pulling Theo away as he thrashed to rip out Ron's throat and Harry and Ginny pulled Ron backwards. The two boys continued to pull Theo away down the hallway as he yelled every curse word he knew at Ron. Trying to quickly leave the scene as students started staring and whispering to each other behind their hands or openly gawking at the small group, Draco turned around and locked eyes with Hermione. She was staunching the blood oozing out of Ron's nose with his own sweater. She saw him and looked back, but he couldn't read the expression on her face and that worried him.

Hermione and Ginny continued to hold the sweater in place. "Ugh thank you, Ronald. Guys, I'll take my own brother to the infirmary. They will give me a pass to class since I'm his sister." With that, Ginny took full control of the sweater held on Ron's face and with an annoyed sigh, she led him in the opposite direction of their classes and the way the Slytherins had left. Hermione looked around at the two left and internally laughed at what she saw. Luna was gazing around the corridor swaying back and forth on her feet with her hands clasped behind her back and a content look on her face. Harry on the other hand was cleaning up the blood off the ground with a spell and looking around to make sure none of the students passing looked to be going to a teacher.

"Well wasn't that insightful? Hermione, I had no idea." Luna looked happily at her, "Luna, you knew I wasn't dating Ron." Hermione was confused, "Oh yes, I did know that." With one last smile at Hermione, she strolled off. "It's her free period and I think I'm going to skip to study. I'll see you later, Mione." Flipping his book open once again, Harry followed Luna towards the library. Hermione was stunned, Harry seemed unperturbed by the fight and so nervous about his test that he was willing to skip class. Making an about face, Hermione made an abrupt decision and walked down the corridor Draco left through.

It had taken both Blaise and Draco restraining Theo and talking him down in an adjoining corridor to ensure that he wouldn't follow Weasley to pummel him further. Blaise grabbed Theo and hustled him back to the Slytherin common room to cool off. Since Theo's father had been taken back to Azkaban he had an even shorter temper than usual. Although, Draco knew that Umbridge would let them off with a pass for a fight he couldn't let it get back to his father. Even a fight for Slytherin honor wasn't a good enough reason to lower oneself to such barbarianism. Real men dueled, they did not fight like common muggles. Watching the two boys walk off, Draco shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking back down the corridor. Hearing someone walking down the connecting corridor he stepped into the alcove behind one of the statues and waited for the person to walk by for worry it would be a nosy peer wanting to know about the quick fight between Weasley and Theo.

Peaking his head out he saw Hermione approaching and right as she passed, he stuck his arm out and pulled her in. Hermione gave a little yelp and then saw her captor and a giant smile took over her face. "You didn't even want to fight. Ron was awful and you still didn't want to fight." Hermione laced her arms around his neck, "Couldn't risk it. The public deserves to see this beautiful face without bruises," Draco joked as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in close. His body automatically reacted to her closeness and instantly relaxed as he nuzzled the exact blush spots he wanted to explore earlier. While kissing her neck, Hermione sighed and stepped closer to him while pulling his face away with both hands. "Do you want to have a skip day?" A mischievous grin played on Hermione's lips and he knew his answer before it fully computed in his head, "There is nothing else I would rather do."

 **Sorry this was a short one! Any reviews, feedbacks, or critiques are always greatly appreciated! Thanks!**


	9. Chapter 9

"Come on," Hermione groaned as she pulled Draco by the arm the last couple of steps back into Hogwarts. Digging in his heels, Draco responded with a smile on his lips, "Why do we have to go back in? Can't we just ditch school for the rest of the year? I wouldn't be against living in the Forbidden Forest." Right at that moment, a guttural wail came from the forest behind them. Draco ran towards the doors of the school around Hermione, threw them open, and jogged inside. With a concerned look turned towards the forest, knowing Grawp had been by himself for a couple of days other than Harry's very short visits, Hermione gave a half forced laugh at the terror on Draco's face as he peaked his head back out of the door to see if she was following. _If only he knew, he would really lose it._

The magic of the day slowly wore off as they walked and Draco's hand hung limply next to Hermione's. The halls felt barren and cold. They made their way to the Great Hall for dinner where students, talking and laughing, flowed into the great doors for a soul warming dinner before bed. "Well, I guess I will talk to you later?" Hermione turned and stared up into Draco's face with a look of apprehension, before he could completely pull away from her. "I'll owl you later, okay?" As he said this, he wrapped his arms around Hermione and kissed her. With students still flooding into the Great Hall all around them, there was no lack of an audience. "Well what do we have here?" Came a sly voice from behind them as they pulled apart from each other. Theo Nott stood feet away looking at Draco like he was the cat who caught the canary. "Well isn't this a fun little turn of events. But sorry Draco, no time for all that. Umbridge sent me to find you for our little squad meeting." The smile spread across Theo's face showed Draco that he hadn't heard the last about his relationship with Hermione. _Was it a relationship?_ Of course, it was. Who was he kidding, this was the closest thing to a relationship he's ever had and honestly? It felt good. Letting go of Hermione, Draco stepped away and followed Theo down the hall towards Umbridge's office. Hermione stood watching as he walked away hoping he would turn to look at her. He never did.

Draco found himself in Umbridge's office with Theo as well as a couple of other slimy Slytherin house mates who loved the thrill of getting others into trouble. Draco looked around the room in disgust, not only at the others but also at the fact that six months ago he would have been happy to take on this new job for his family's benefit and now? It just felt off. Not wrong, but just like a sweater that had been left in the rain and then dried from the sun. Stiff. Forced.

"Well I'm sure you are all wondering why we have a meeting tonight. I'm happy to say that certain students have been found contributing to the overthrow of the Ministry's curriculum in some of your classes. With the help of Veritaserum and a very watchful student," at this Umbridge turned and smiled at Pansy Parkinson, "we have learned who these students are and will be bringing them in for questioning on their intentions and actions." A knock sounded at the door. Umbridge's face lit up as she waved her wand to permit in the newest guests to the party that Draco suddenly felt like was more of a beheading. Pushed in through the door, obviously against their own will by Filch and Goyle were Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, and Hermione. Draco's stomach took a flying leap to the floor as he came to the realization at what was about to happen.

Hermione scanned the room for exits or a possible escape and turned up empty other than the possibility of the boy standing at the front. His head bowed towards the ground and the white of his skin a shade paler than usual. Hermione tried to fight the overwhelming feeling of relief when she saw Draco, but as she tried to lock eyes with him he looked everywhere but at her and she in turn felt the same sinking feeling that Draco did moments before.

As the interrogation wore on, Hermione could feel Goyle's hand digging into her bicep relentlessly. She would pull away and push at him and yet he didn't loosen his hold. She knew that she would have a large bruise that would take quite a few healing charms to fix. All through this time, she continued to look at Draco and willed him to look back at her with no avail. He seemed to have found something very interesting currently on the wall behind Harry's head.

"Harry, tell her! Tell her about Dumbledore's secret weapon!" Hermione squealed to Harry as the thought blossomed into her mind. "Secret weapon? What secret weapon?"

"It's in the forest. Dumbledore told us about it before he left. It's his weapon to take down the ministry." Draco now felt the need to look at Hermione and shoot daggers at her. He knew that this was either a horribly thought out plan, that probably wasn't thought out at all, or she had kept this from him. Although the logic in him told him is was likely the former, a hot ball of anger ripped through Draco's abdomen. _After all I shared with her? She wanted me to join her little revolt and she didn't even tell me about this?_ "Mr. Malfoy," Draco's eyes cut to Professor Umbridge as the thoughts continued to roll through his mind, "I have also learned that your relationship with Ms. Granger has turned into something other than innocent. Is this true?" Draco's mouth went dry with the thought of his father finding out about his relationship with Hermione. He could already hear the words: filth, below us, and mudblood slurring from his father's letters as a howler would be too public. _Worthless, ignorant, half a Malfoy_ were also words that ran through Draco's head before he knew he was speaking, "Professor, I don't know what you mean. Did you not ask me to become close to the mudblood to try and figure out her secrets?" Draco could see the flinch on Hermione's face as Ron came to her aid and tried to throw a punch before he was dragged back into the prisoner's corner. Draco, falling back into his old mannerisms, turned and smiled at Ron. "Really, Weasley. You think now is a good time to fight? Salazar, and to think people in Gryffindor look up to you. Professor, Granger and I are nothing. I was just doing what you asked of me to gain her trust. She is a mudblood, after all. I wouldn't ever lower myself that far to see her as someone I could be with." The hurt on Hermione's face was more than the hurt of his cutting words but the crumbling of the progress she believed she was making.

"I will take you Professor to the secret weapon, even if Harry refuses." Umbridge turned from Draco back to Hemrione, "Yes that is fine, but we will need someone to watch you all. Draco, Theo, and Pansy can you please follow us into the forest? I wouldn't want any of these three to get any ideas?" Pansy looked at Draco and smiled as if she had a plan and turned back forwards training her wand on Ron Weasley's back.

After what felt like forever of walking deeper and deeper into the Forbidden Forest, Draco had his wand trained steadily on Hermione's back. "I would hate for anything to happen to you students, but force will be taken if you choose to run or go against us." A twitter of laughter flowed from Umbridge's mouth. A steady pound of hooves echoed in the forest, as a horde of centaurs entered the clearing. "You have no business here, centaur, this is a ministry matter." Umbridge began to fall behind the other students to distance herself from the centaurs as they drew their arrows aiming directly at her. "Lower your weapons. I warn you under the law, as creatures of near human intelligence," Umbridge was then cut off to block an arrow from slicing throwing her. "How dare you, filthy half breed." The indignation marred on Umbridge's face was accompanied by a quick flick of her wand and ropes flew out and wrapped themselves around the centaur's next who held the bow still pointed at her. As he writhed on the ground, Hermione sprung into a fit of rage, "Stop! You are killing him!"

"Do not move Miss Granger or we will have to use force!" Hermione turned her eyes towards Draco and pleaded but he just stared blankly ahead. She moved towards the centaur and began to pull and cut at the ropes that wrapped viciously around his neck. With one last cut of rope, Hermione felt a angry slash of heat cross her back and her world went dark.

Draco stared down at Hermione as she lone prone on the ground with her face in the dirt where the centaur had just been lying. His thoughts flew to what got him to this point and realized it was Umbridge's simple nod that told him he knew what he had to do. Now, Umbridge's voice echoed throughout the forest as she was carted off by angry centaurs and Grawp leaned down to poke at Hermione's prone frame.

Draco once again found himself in a state he had not expected. Running. Possibly running towards Hogwarts or Hogsmeade, no matter where he was going he was getting away from her. The girl he poured his heart out to. The girl he just hit with a stinging charm. Running. Just running.

Hours later, Draco found himself in a hotel room in Hogsmeade. Looking over the letter he just wrote after his untimely cowardice.

 _Hermione,_

 _I cant begin to tell you how sorry I am. For not only letting you down but for also letting you believe that I was worth believing in. I can't start to ask for your forgiveness at what horrible act I just committed, but just know that I have never felt lower than right now._

 _I hope one day, I will be as brave as you and have the courage to stand up for what is right rather than what people expect from me._

 _D.M._

 _P.S. I'll find you when I find my bravery._

Draco then called for an owl and strapped the letter to its leg. He watched the letter fly off towards the castle in the distance.

++++And wow, that is all. I know I took a long break over summer, but I felt bitten by inspiration this past weekend. There will be an epilogue, so stay tuned. Leave me some comments or suggestions. Tell me you love it. Or you hate it. ++++


	10. Epilogue

Epilogue 8 years later:

Hermione Granger found herself in a sticky situation once again, but these days they were much more tame than the years leading up to the Hogwarts Battle. After the war, Hermione and the boys found it necessary to take a step back from the lives laid out for them by the Ministry.

Harry went off to teach at Hogwarts, which for him was taking a step back from the spotlight. Only the occasional student would gawk at him in the corridors but after the first week of school starting the star power usually wore off. He found happiness in teaching students how to defend themselves against the Dark Arts and knowing many of them would never have to use it but at least they were prepared. This often made him nostalgic of his days running Dumbledore's Army and teaching his peers when he first got his burst of pride while watching someone master a difficult defensive spell.

Ron found peace in working for George at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Manning the counter in a rush when Hogwarts students were on break was about as stressful as his life ever became and he was happy for it. After the war, Ron struggled with the fame that came along with helping defeat the Dark Lord and when George offered him to be a partner in the business, he was quick to accept.

Hermione was currently owning and operating a small business, a bar actually. After the war, Hermione withdrew into the Muggle world due to the never-ending flashing bulbs of reporters from The Daily Prophet and the like. She found this more her pace, she's only ever had to break up one fight and this fight consisted of fists rather than killing curses. Definitely an easier life and she was happier for it. The boys often came to visit her as well as her parents who couldn't get enough knowing she was working and living almost completely in the Muggle world. She had even begun relationships and friendships with many Muggles to indulge in the normalcy of people not knowing her for her fame.

Draco Malfoy had occasionally flitted through her mind as she brushed her teeth or was about to fall asleep. He often visited her in the fringe time of her mind, when nothing in particular was going on but she was reminded of him in some way. He was never a constant thought, just a dull ache that cropped up every blue moon.

At this time, Hermione had found herself in a sticky situation; she was pouring a drink for a bar patron when it splashed back and covered her hands. Apologizing quickly to the man with a quick but bright smile, she turned around to clean herself up at the sink. A tinkle at the door sounded and Hermione yelled hello without turning around completely. As she faced the new customer, she saw a head of blonde almost white hair and her stomach instantly cascaded to her feet. There was only one person she had ever known who had hair like that and it was no one she would ever like to see again. The dull ache was back.

"The Witch's Brew. Cute. Considering." A sly smile spread across his face as he checked out Hermione from the tips of her shoes to the bushiness of her hair in the makeshift sloppy bun on top of her head. "You look good, Granger." His slate grey eyes met her brown ones. Thoughts and curse words rushed around in her mind before she could figure out what was happening. _Is this a joke? I must be getting punked._ Hermione then knew what to do so she plastered a fake friendly smile on her face, "What can I get you?" Draco looked surprised but it didn't take him long to recover as he swiveled back and forth on his bar stool, "Ohh. So that is how you want to play this? Okay. I deserve that. Vodka soda, please." Hermione quickly turned towards the vodka and started making his drink as her hands only shook slightly. "So. This is what you've been up to? Hiding out with Muggles? I had a feeling but you'd be surprised how difficult it was to find you. At some point, I had to admit defeat and ask Potter. Not the best situation us working together, but you know, inner house unity and all that." Hermione faced Draco and handed him his drink with her jaw slack. "You asked Harry about where I was? That's a joke right? This whole scene must be a joke because I don't honestly know why you are here."

"Aw, Hermione you know exactly why I'm here. I found my courage." He slung back his vodka soda and drained it. "Tell me that you haven't thought about me one time over the years and I will walk out of the bar and never come back. But I'm here." The false bravado finally drained from Draco's face and Hermione could see his immense determination as well as fear. He looked at her earnestly. "Of course, I've thought about you, but what good is that? It has been six years since the war and things changed Draco. I'm not her anymore."

"That's actually perfect because I'm not fifth year Draco either. I'm different and I'm here to prove it to you. I'll give you some time to mull it over, you don't need to fall madly back in love with me tonight, but I'll come back every night until you do." At this Draco took out 5 pounds from his dark wash jeans and threw it on the bar top, grabbed car keys out of his jacket pocket and hit the button and a car out front beeped. He gave her one last smile and left the bar. Hermione's heart gave a flutter and she smiled to herself knowing he would be back.

***And we out. That's my end end. If anyone wants another story with this as the beginning let me know. After writing it, I definitely got the feeling that this could turn into something. Maybe a little too mushy for me, but we will see where it goes.***


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